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Anolis torresfundorai
Torres, Reilly, Nuñez-Penichet, Reynolds & Glor, 2025
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Abstract
Cuba is the only landmass with more than one species in the Anolis carolinensis subgroup. We test the hypothesis that three rather than two distinct species occur on Cuba, based on substantial prior evidence of paraphyly. To test this hypothesis, we collected phenotypic data from all described species in the subgroup, including eastern and west-central Cuban populations of A. porcatus, and assessed phenotypic diagnosability using uni- and multivariate analyses. We also examined geographic isolation using all available occurrence records for Cuban lineages. Additionally, we conducted ecological niche modeling and niche overlap analyses, considering only Cuban lineages, to test for ecological differentiation. Finally, we reconstructed phylogenetic trees, incorporating all species from the subgroup for the first time. Our results support the recognition of three species in Cuba: A. allisoni and eastern and west-central A. porcatus as two distinct cryptic species, showing minimal phenotypic differentiation but clear geographic isolation, distinct ecological niches, and deep genetic divergence. We restrict the name A. porcatus to west-central Cuba, with Havana as the type locality, and formally describe the eastern Cuban populations as Anolis torresfundorai sp. nov., designating Baracoa, Guantánamo, as the type locality.
Keywords: Genetic divergence, geographic isolation, green anoles, niche modeling, species delimitation, sublabial scales
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Life coloration of phenotypically alike Cuban green anoles. Left panel: adult males Anolis torresfundorai sp. nov. from Santiago de Cuba with dark brown and dark green paramedial stripes (top and bottom, respectively). The male in the top is in transition to dark phase. Right panel: mating pair of A. porcatus from Havana with both individuals lacking the paramedian stripes. The female is in dark phase.
Photo credit: Alexis Callejas (A. torresfundorai sp. nov.) and Tomás M. Rodríguez-Cabrera (A. porcatus). |
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adult males Anolis torresfundorai sp. nov. from Santiago de Cuba with dark brown and dark green paramedial stripes (top and bottom, respectively). The male in the top is in transition to dark phase.
Photos by Alexis Callejas |
Anolis torresfundorai sp. nov.
Common name. Eastern Cuba Green Anole
Diagnosis. Anolis torresfundorai sp. nov. is diagnosable from all species of the A. carolinensis subgroup. Anolis torresfundorai sp. nov. was not unambiguously differentiated from A. porcatus in either of the uni- or multivariate analyses (Tables 1, 2; Figs 2, S1–S12). Ultimately, A. torresfundorai sp. nov. was diagnosable from its cryptic relatives, Cuban A. porcatus and continental A. carolinensis, based on one categorical character, keelation of sublabial scales. These scales are heavily keeled in the former species and smooth in A. torresfundorai sp. nov. with occasional weak keelation that does not go beyond the 4th scale (Fig. 1). Anolis torresfundorai sp. nov. differs from A. longiceps and A. maynardii in having a pink dewlap, yellow or pale yellow in the others. Anolis allisoni and A. brunneus have blue heads or torsos, green in A. torresfundorai sp. nov. Anolis smaragdinus has a more strongly keeled tail and is usually more homogeneous in coloration, with or without a faint mid-dorsal stripe or scapular spots. Additionally, only three members of the A. carolinensis subgroup occur in Cuba (A. allisoni, A. porcatus, and A. torresfundorai sp. nov.).
Etymology. The species epithet is a Latinized patronym honoring Emeritus Professor Orlando J. Torres Fundora, for a lifetime dedicated to the study and conservation of Cuban nature and the education of Cuban scientists at the University of Havana, Cuba.
Javier Torres, Dexter Reilly, Claudia Nuñez-Penichet, R. Graham Reynolds and Richard E. Glor. 2025. A Revision of the
Anolis carolinensis subgroup supports three species in Cuba, including A New cryptic Species (Squamata: Anolidae).
Vertebrate Zoology. 75: 107-126. DOI:
doi.org/10.3897/vz.75.e152054